Evaluation

What have I learnt from acting?

Throughout this process I've realised how much self belief and confidence I needed in my character choices to make my interpretation come to life. An actor's personal decision on forming a character comes a lot from research; what they'e previously seen to be successful and letting their imagination take control.  For me this whole journey was about specifying my ideas and refining to make an original character the audience would believe and feel presence from. Theatre's about taking characteristics and exaggerating or expanding the spirit of the character for the audience to relate to and be thrilled by. You have to take risks.
Although ,some of the most effective moments in theatre are made through subtlety, silence and naturalistic choices. film is the most realistic performance and closest to  truthful behaviour. Therefore this idea of not doing too much, nor too little was a constant thought i had in mind. However in this case there needed to be bold choice made at the same time or else that acting would be lost and not translated n such a large space. Especially as everyone is giving a lot energy and larger than life action into their performance. Hopefully what i deliberately chose to do at specific moments contrasted and differed to the other 3 Locahas. As we are a collective of four individuals making one character, there needed to be similar links and actions to convey the idea of general evil within different people.
Acting's taught me you don't need to be the loudest or have the biggest part to be successful in grabbing the audience's attention. The most important part is the conviction, body language, voice portrayal and intention. An example of this which inspired me was one of the boys who played the part af the you're son in 'Six Characters in Search of an Author' from the Common Ground show. The role he created stood out the most to me. The intensity in his presence and  disturbed silence was there ad you could tell how traumatised he was. Without playing a major art in the first Act, his role really intrigued me and i found myself looking at his reactions the most. It was an outstanding performance. The absence in dialogue and tension in looks was something I focused on due to the past performances i've watched.
From the night's event, i've learnt that as an actor something to take into consideration are the things given to you. It's vital that you're the one who's able to make changes and adapt, rather than have the director make those changes for you because you're unable. If  you're given an extra line on the night or instruction, then you work with it and not against it. Be flexible and be prepared to deal with pressure that comes with the theatre industry.
I was lucky enough to be given a significant amount of time to perform in. However in the future or the professional world , it's unlikely to jump into so much work. From that and from hearing other's complain at first with the amount of time they had, I learnt t make the most of my time. When you're older it's likely you'll be waiting a long time to go on stage so you have to take that time t perfect what's going to happen once you get up, whether that;s going over director's notes or going over lines. Make the most of your time and be in the moment. The likelihood of it is there'll be more preparation than performance-at first.
Many people such as Katie and Danny performed in the style of transformative acting. It's embodying something or someone with a persona very different to yours. I believe those actors who are able to do that and put their stamp on it are the most successful. Such as Meryl Streep as the witch in 'Into The Woods' and Johnny Depp as 'Jack Sparrow'. It also comes with a lot of experience and being able to utilise your skills to their fully potential.

Effective use of and control of performance skills throughout the piece:
As an actor you have to be able to immerse yourself into other people's world. I love the fact that with  acting comes new opportunities and no monotonous rehearsals. You always learn something new.  However it means you have to dedicate most of your time on research, whether that's on the computer  trying to find context information or going somewhere literally to see it for yourself. Actors have to be scientists, historians etc. and therefore have the task of perfecting any role they take on. It serves week when performers dig into the background of their role that bit deeper -it just becomes easier once you get on stage. You have the confidence from the evidence you've researched to do whatever you want.
Being a large ensemble, a major responsibility is to convert the atmosphere of a normal venue into an atmosphere of our play. It comes with being vocally and physically committed to throw yourself into the space of the stage.
From the start of this journey we had the duty to fulfil the director's vision. It comes with being the front foot; giving options to pick from; offering something to the table; interpreting your own work; being open minded and versatile.

Successful in...

• ...Being specially aware. No one wants to block an audience member so it's important to be on the move most of the time so that the audience have access to every part of the stage and you. My group who worked on Locaha moved about a lot to ensure everyone was being seen and heard. I remember being taught to position your body on one point and face your head in another. Even though it feels unnatural, it does a lot for the audience as they're able to see more of you.
• Being fully committed in the moment. All of us gave a large input of energy which came across well the minute we ran onto the stage. It meant the audience were confused at first but had a starting point to be involved in. 
• I know some people clearly took a strong stand in leadership, such as Holly with directing staging and Courteney with physical holding and carrying. It showed a focused group of people working together to get through technical moments. 
• We had to be open minded on the day as we were given a lot of last minute changes or ideas to insert into the piece. It can be hard to do but everyone was so excited about it that it was automatically taken on board. People had to be fully committed, focused and, be giving 100% effort at all time. 

One thing I continuously worry about is not being good enough so I want to have enough faith in  myself to experiment and try new things.

 Should work on...

• I still personally want to be more aware of my physicality even when it feels like i'm doing enough. I want to be able to know who isn't able to see me and adjust my body to reach all angles of the audience.
• With voice I want to adapt more to large spaces. Articulation, projection and volume is key when filling an enormous venue and I know it comes with experience and training but I want to be able to expand my vocal set. 
• Sticking to one strong character choice. Sometimes I like to continue experimenting with the persona or physicality of my character and I need to learn to have that all sorted and decided before I get up on stage. No more editing at the last minute.